Only time can tell: Hong Kong Articles by Abney Associates – Livejournal

hong kong articles by abney associates, Only time can tell what to make of this wicked lot

Depending on your political inclinations, you might either be grief-stricken or chuckling over the unlucky message from the fortune stick drawn by rural patriarch Lau Wong-fat in a Taoist ritual last week.
In the annual ceremony at Sha Tin's Che Kung temple, the Heung Yee Kuk chairman drew a stick bearing the number 95.
The luck of the territory for the Year of the Snake is believed to be foretold by the deity Che Kung in a message corresponding to that stick, written in Chinese poetry laden with allusions to Chinese history and literature.
The message on the stick, loosely translated, read: "In a splendid carriage you embarked on your journey. Today, you came home barefoot. Is it that you failed the imperial examination? Or did you lose all your gold in business?"
The message also reminded Hongkongers to "beware of wicked people", and said "nothing is going well" in the Year of the Snake.